Tesla Model Y All-Wheel Drive (AWD) buyers in the US will be happy to know that the white interior option has returned to the Design Studio, just a few weeks after the optional upgrade disappeared from the online configurator. Unfortunately the same change didn’t apply to the Canadian version of Tesla’s website.
Back on June 14 Tesla increased the price of the Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) in the US by $250. While the price increase was minimal compared to some of the price increases that have hit the electric SUV over the last couple of years, there was a bigger change that impacted some buyers – the removal of the white interior option for the AWD variant. While Tesla made no official announcement on why the $1,000 USD was removed, it was believed to be because of a temporary parts supply issue at Giga Texas, where the 4680-equipped Model Y is built.
It appears as though the shortage was short lived, as Tesla added the option back to the Design Studio on Monday, as noted by Tesla enthusiast Sawyer Merritt.
NEWS: @Tesla has added back the white interior as an option in the Model Y AWD in the US. For the last couple weeks the only choice was black.
Shop: https://t.co/WsoBSD06J0 pic.twitter.com/9cNIoE8YXH
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 26, 2023
While this is good news for customers that were hoping to buy a Model Y with a white interior in the US, there is no such goods for Canadians. There has been no option to pick a white interior on the Model Y since April, after Tesla switched to importing cars from China into Canada, instead of shipping them up from the Fremont factory in California. Tesla did this to ensure all US-made cars were staying south of the border, where they are eligible for a tax credit up to $7,500. Canada’s federal incentive program has no such rules around where the vehicles are made, so Tesla can import the cars from China and they can still be eligible for the $5,000 rebate.
As with most of Tesla’s changes to the Design Studio, they have not explained why the white interior is no longer available for the Model Y in Canada, but it likely has to do with the aforementioned switch to importing the electric SUV from China. They have also not revealed when the option might return, but according to one of our readers who spoke to a Tesla salesperson this week, it has been “indefinitely discontinued.”
